Well, I'm back after almost two months away from any action. I won't get into details as to why, let's just say Tribune doesn't like to see one of it's employees involved with the phrases "lap dance" and "Sue the dinosaur." I'll try to behave from now on.
Let's see, anything happen to the Cubs in the past two months? No, nothing I can think of. I had the "pleasure" of seeing them play live on Monday night. The tickets were free, so I suppose I got my money's worth. I decided to avoid watching them last night, and it turns out that had I paid for it I might have gotten my money's worth in sheer comedy. They do find their ways of losing.(For the record, my favorite is the pop-up bouncing off of Ramirez's head, with two runs scoring on a sac fly a close second. And both of those in one weekend.)
The result of all this losing is that our readers' All-City Team is the White Sox, and it doesn't appear that it's because some techie rigged it (as has been the case in recent years). Y'all just seem to think the White Sox are substantially better at each position, and you are, as we say in the business, "not wrong."
Righty Carlos Marmol, who looked promising at first but is coming down to earth, starts for the Cubs, sporting a 1-2 record with a 4.98 ERA. The Brewers counter with righty Dave Bush (5-6, 4.61), who can surpass his career high in victories if he notches one today. According to several sources on the Web, Bush has had a Major League career. Coulda fooled me. Today's lineups. Drop me a line via e-mail (
rstrohl@tribune.com) or via the comment board on the right. Click on auto-refresh if that's what you want, also over on the right. Baseball soon.
FIRST INNING
Doug Eddings calling balls and strikes today. Catchers, make sure you tag any strikeout victims. As for the chances of the Cubs picking up Carlos Lee, judging by their decisions the past few years, who knows? The Brewers just may want to hold onto him. Rickie Weeks sends one high to left field, the wind knocks it down and Nevin makes the catch. Wind blowing hard in from left, by the way. Glad to see the Lord Vishnu coming to my aid on the comment board. I knew if I just had faith… Marmol fans Bill Hall and gets Geoff Geonkins looking.
Brewers 0, Cubs comin' up
This time Juan Pierre's bunt is of the swinging variety, but Weeks makes a nice play to get him by a half step. Sorry I forgot the auto-refresh. It's up now. Walker flies out to Geonkins, Lee does the same.
Scoreless
SECOND INNING
Apu, I'd take you up on the Squishy but I just finished an ice cream bar, so I'm good for now. We come back to the sight of the poor Walgreens celebrity bat kids being forced to wave for way longer than seems comfortable. Carlos Lee, whom most on the board want to see in Cubbie blue next year, continues his ownership of Wrigley with a double off the right-center ivy. Prince Fielder, of the wide-bottomed Fielders, pops up behind the plate and Blanco does a good job of following it swirling in the wind, and squeezes it. Lee tries to catch Marmol napping, nothing doing as Carlos M. spins off the rubber and runs right at Carlos L., applying the tag himself. Koskie bounces weekly to Lee, Derrek, and the inning is over.
Nuf'n
Ramirez grounds out and Len and Bob are rambling on about the teddy bears that were the party favors for showing up to Wrigley today. Monday was Old Style Light Cubs road cap day. I declined the honor of taking one. Nevin grounds out to third. Jacque Jones breaks up the perfect game with a single to left, one that wouldn't have happened if the Brewers weren't playing the shift. To some comment board matters: David, I kinda want the Bulls to take Adam Morrisson just for the theatricalities that will result. Politically Correct, I have no problem with going to church. I do that twice a year to appease the WASP half of me. Can you guess which days? Jones swipes second off his former USC teammate Chad Moeller. That info courtesy Len. Cedeno breaks his bat while grounding weakly to second.
Nil-nil
THIRD INNING
Moeller grounds to third as Peter Frampton talks to Len and Bob. Do you feel like he does? Gabe Gross flies to his counterpart, Juan Pierre, and Bush strikes out against his counterpart, Carlos Marmol.
Goose eggs
Let's put an end to the holy wars on the board and just agree, in the name of Michael Jordan, that we will all just get along. And to those thinking I'm going to Philly tonight, that Temple has a capital "T." As for the hopelessness of the Cubs, well, at least it's worth it to tune in toward the end of each game to see if they can pull something as spectacular as last night. Blanco flies to Lee, Carlos, in left. Bush returns the favor that Marmol offered him in the top of the inning and Marmol walks back to the bench. Juan Pierre hits a homer. That is not a typo. My colleague, Adam Caldarelli, asked if it was a bunt home run, then asked if he showed bunt earlier in the at-bat. Nope, Adam, that was a first-pitch tater. First homer as a Cub and 10th of his career, so Pierre is back to trailing Zambrano by only one homer. Pierre did the Sammy chest tap kiss thing to the camera, to the smiles of a few teammates. Walker does as his name would suggest, looking at four pitched balls outside of the strike zone. Frampton has left the booth, but Len and Bob continue on the topic.
a
